Edhat Staff
Update by California Highway Patrol
May 3, 2021
On April 30, 2021, at approximately 6:35 p.m., a fatal traffic collision occurred on U.S. 101 Northbound, north of North Padaro Lane. The sole occupant and driver, a 58 year old resident of Goleta, was driving a 2016 Nissan Altima when the collision occurred. The driver was traveling within the #1 lane when, for reasons unknown at this time, she allowed the Nissan to drift to the right in a northeasterly direction across all northbound traffic lanes and off of the paved portion of the roadway. The Nissan continued to the right across the dirt shoulder and the front of it collided into a tree. The driver sustained major injuries as a result of the collision and succumbed to her injuries at the scene.
The identity of the victim has not yet been released.
By Roger the Scanner Guy
6:48 p.m., April 30, 2021
Fatal traffic collision on Highway 101 northbound at Padaro, a vehicle crashed into a tree.
There have been many fatal collisions with trees on the freeway in SB, a good friend of mine included. More guard rails are needed.
Guard rails are NOT needed. People just need to pay attention to what they are doing…. DRIVING.
you have no CLUE why these accidents happened and if a “paying attention” would have saved them. gezzus show some tact.
People so often jump to the conclusion that there was texting or distraction involved, but allow for the possibility of mechanical failure or medical event. Which could happen to any innocent one of us.
Actually, much of the autobahn has no speed limit and it is significantly safer than American freeways. Speed can be dangerous, but there is a lot more to it than that. Our obsession with speed enforcement in this country gets in the way of implementing other improvements that could save far more lives. Put another way, thousands of American lives have been lost because we only focus on speed and refuse to address other safety issues.
I have often wondered why we allow so many large trees to be so close to the side of the freeway with no guardrails or protective barriers. If you look closely, you will see many of the trees along the side of the freeway are heavily scarred. It seems to me the trees should be removed or some sort of protective barrier installed. Cars tend to run off the road, and having large trees so close to the pavement edge is a major hazard.